In Bosnia, a war was fought between civic nationalism and individual liberty versus ethnic nationalism and collectivism. Bosnia's struggle was, and is, America's struggle.
Dedicated to the struggle of all of Bosnia's peoples--Bosniak, Croat, Serb, and others--to find a common heritage and a common identity.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

"Divide and Fall?" by Radha Kumar--Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE: PEACE MAKING 1992 ONWARDS

This chapter details the mostly disappointing peacemaking efforts in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, and Palestine in the years leading up to, during, and immediately after the Bosnian war, and compares the varying failings of partition-based peacekeeping in order to extrapolate lessons which could be applied to Bosnia and for the future.

It's good reading, but time is getting away from me and I think it would be best to stick to Bosnia and simply conclude my brief consideration of Kumar's book by saying, again, that it is a worthy read--not least because she cuts through a lot of the bogus certainties and truisms which served to cloud international debate on Bosnia. Her focus on concrete policy decisions and specific actions taken by domestic and foreign agents would be very instructive to any casual observers who dismiss international mediation in infamous hotspots like Bosnia, Palestine, and so on as being doomed.